


the purrfect storm

by Junkyard_Rose



Series: warmth [2]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, M/M, this is 3k of taako being gay and bad at feelings and looking after a cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 11:51:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14135496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Junkyard_Rose/pseuds/Junkyard_Rose
Summary: Taako's not a cat lover, exactly.





	the purrfect storm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [keep_on_zoinking](https://archiveofourown.org/users/keep_on_zoinking/gifts).



> This one goes out to Keep_On_Zoinking because I _completely forgot_ about Dupree. I hope you like taakitz, it just kinda snuck in? I also forgot some twin stuff, I’m a mess. Also partly inspired by a GOTH.NET goth cat discussion, circa 2002. Kravitz absolutely has an account. I’m now active again on my [tumblr](http://notvaleri.tumblr.com/).  
>  Chronologically – uhhhhhhhh set before the ‘go steady’ taakitz conversation in chap 16 of the main fic. I’d say you _should_ read the main fic first if you’re new but like. I’m not gonna tell you how to live your life.

Taako’s not a cat lover, exactly. They’re alright. If pressed he’d say yeah, he prefers them to dogs, but not in Mags’ hearing because he’s got no desire to have that argument again. He’d still choose a fish or something over a cat – Angus has a hermit crab in a tank in his room, nice and low maintenance – and he’s a horse dude through and through but cats, yeah. They’re okay.

This does not mean Taako does not panic when Kravitz’s cat goes and falls asleep on his chest.

It’s a scraggly thing, black fur, torn up ear. It’s a good thing most of Kravitz’s clothes are black because it’s always all over him and it sheds like a motherfucker. Taako has had cat hair up his _nose_.

He sort of panics, when the thing curls up on his chest and just takes a damn nap. It’s just – Taako hadn’t intended to stay the night but he can’t kick the cat off his chest, he’s not a _monster_. It’s not like he’s really gotta go – Angus is staying the night at June’s, Taako doesn’t have classes until tomorrow afternoon. Krav’s bed is so soft, worn old cotton sheets that smell like laundry powder and his coconut shampoo.  

Taako could stay, maybe.

 

* * *

 

Kravitz is just a dude.

He’s not that tall. Kinda skinny, if Taako’s being honest. He is, admittingly, fucking gorgeous – killer cheekbones, flawless skin, that mouth. He wears his hair long, dresses nice, sometimes paints his nails. He’s very fond of shiny silver jewellery and once, memorably, Taako saw an old picture of him in eyeliner. Taako likes his voice, usually soft and gentle, sometimes wild and inflated with that fucking chimney sweep accent, the Dracula impersonation, the weirdly spot-on distinguished gentleman thing. Taako likes his long-fingered hands, likes his artful wrists, likes his surprisingly strong forearms. He’s got dimples when he smiles and a barely-visible crown on his front tooth.

It’s not because he’s hot. Taako’s screwed around with plenty of hot guys before. Taako _is_ a hot guy. Taako’s not all tied up in knots because Krav’s smokin’, he’s not a teenager anymore.

Taako is not entirely sure why he’s all tied up in knots.

They’re a casual thing, mostly. Taako’s a busy person. He’s got a kid, got a job, is putting himself through college. He’s just found his sister after six damn years. He makes as much time as he can for Kravitz, but it’s not a huge amount. Whenever Taako gets a free night – a couple times a month, no more – they’ll meet up, go to pottery class or shitty karaoke or whatever. Sometimes they’ll just get takeout and watch trashy reality shows at Krav’s place.

Kravitz is just a dude. There’s no reason he should make Taako feel like this.

 

* * *

 

Lup takes him out into the stinky alleyway behind the Costco Taako works at and punches him square in the gut.

It’s not unusual for one of them to drop in on the other unexpectedly, so when Lup texts him, already on the train, he doesn’t hesitate to shoot off a _working til late, meet out back._ It’s not a bad alley, per se, but the Costco dumpsters down the end give it a singular funk. Taako’s sleep in worse alleys and stolen food from grosser dumpsters, though, so he doesn’t _really_ mind, but still. It’s not great.

Lup’s leaning up against the brick wall smoking when he sneaks out the fire escape, looking for all intents and purposes a wholly disreputable member of society. Big boots, skull earrings, that fucking jacket. God, but he wants to burn that fucking jacket. Taako owns a motorcycle and he doesn’t even dress like that. She’s got no damn taste whatsoever, he’s embarrassed to be related to her.

She gives him a big hug, which. He returns it two-fold, lifts her right off her feet for a dizzying second before his burning arms demand he sets her back down. It’s been maybe two weeks since they saw each other in person. It’s fine, there’s no one around to see him express his feelings.

He bats her hand away when she offers him the cigarette. “I quit,” he reminders her. Angus’ cheery cancer statistics had gotten to him eventually. Lup must be remembering Ango’s PowerPoint presentation of blackened lungs too, because she lets it fall to the dirty ground, still smouldering, and grinds it out with her boot.                          

“Hey,” Lup says to him, quick, after they make dinner plans and Taako starts to think he should go back inside before his manager starts looking for him, Garfield is a fucking _nightmare_ , “I wanted to ask. Why were you apologising?”

“Hm?” he really doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

“When I found you,” Lup elaborates. “You said to me – you kept saying _sorry_.”

This is not the time nor the place, he thinks. He blows a raspberry at her, and it sends the artful wisps hanging out of his bun swirling up like stalks of seaweed. “I just,” he stammers, “Lup. I – can we talk about this later?”

“No,” she says, flatly.

He crosses his arms over his uniform polo, the nametag that reads _Justin_. “Fine, alright,” he shrugs like it doesn’t matter, at odds with the defensive body language. “I told you to fuck off and then I lost you for six years,” he tells her, blunt, quickly, like maybe she won’t hear if he talks fast enough, “kinda fucked my head for a little while, don’t worry about it. Cha’boy’s over it. Guilty, _me_?”

Lup gives him a long, considering look, and then she punches him in the stomach. Not hard; he’s barely winded, he’s seen her knock bigger men than him down. “That’s the stupidest shit I’ve ever heard,” Lup snaps, “It wasn’t your fault we got split up.”

“Mm,” he says, and then, after some deliberation, punches her in the boob. She gasps, more from surprise than anything.

There’s a moment of deceptive silence. “We’re gonna be talking about this later,” she says, and launches herself at him.

Garfield sticks his head out the fire door ten minutes later to find them wrestling on the dirty ground.

 

* * *

 

The cat is purring up a storm in Kravitz’s lap, head tipped back, soaking up the chin scratch like a flower soaking up the sun.

Taako asks, “Does he have a name?” curious, bored.

“Lup calls him Dupree,” Kravitz says, still petting the furry little bastard so, so gently. His other arm is draped comfortably around Taako’s shoulders.

“Dupree,” Taako repeats, trying not to smile, tentatively reaches over to stoke his ears. The cat just melts into it, not unlike the way Kravitz does.

 

* * *

 

Kravitz was raised in a funeral home, which honestly kind of charms Taako. He’s never quite grown out of his goth phase and he thinks it’s hilarious when Taako tells him about the spring they were thirteen when he went scene and Lup went emo.

He’s also kind of a mama’s boy, but that’s fair because he’s got double the moms.

“Istus’ birthday is next week, and I was wondering,” he says to Taako one time while he’s trying to teach him to ice skate. Angus is there, which is weird, right, bringing his kid on a date? But Kravitz had hesitantly asked if Angus would be interested in coming along and Taako had felt like an ass leaving him at home if they were doing something fun, so yeah, he’s brought his kid. It’s fine, Angus and Kravitz get on like a house on fire, especially considering that Angus once cyberstalked Kravitz across two states.

Angus took off a while back though, literally skating circles around Taako, and had been shanghaied by a group of kids into a pick-up game of hockey down the other end of the rink. He’s pretty decent at it. Taako’s wondering if he wants to sign up for a peewee league or something, to fill the spare hours after soccer season ends.

Krav hesitates and Taako thinks for a terrifying second that he’s trying to invite him home to meet the parents, which is maybe the most frightening thing he could imagine, but he also maybe would say yes. What Kravitz says, though, ends with: “I was wondering if it would be too much to ask if you could look after Dupree for a few days?”

Taako blinks at him. “You want me to – okay. Cat sitter, sure, I can do that. How do I do that?” His skate slips a bit on the ice and he clutches onto Krav’s arm. He’d looked after half the verifiable menagerie on Tostada’s farm, he could manage a cat. Probably.

 

* * *

 

Dupree has been under Taako’s couch for two hours and forty-eight minutes.

It’s not that he couldn’t have looked after himself for a few days; Lup said he’d had been a street cat, he would have been fine on his own.

It was more that Kravitz didn’t want the damn thing to get lonely.

“He got used to having at least one of us around, when I lived with Lup and Barry,” Krav had said sheepishly. “I know it’s a lot to ask –“

“My man,” Taako had replied, “I’m, yanno. It’s chill. I’m, uh. Happy to.” So: the cat is under his couch. Kravitz is probably like, halfway to his mothers’ house. Via plane, because dude could _not_ drive a car. Angus isn’t due home from school for another twenty minutes, and that’s only if he comes straight home. The cat dived for the small, dark space under the couch pretty much as soon as Kravitz opened up the cat carrier, and has not budged since.

Taako has: said cat carrier, equipped with Dupree’s favourite blanket, blue and green and dusted with black hairs. A bag, containing: a week’s worth of cat food of both the wet and dry varieties, high-end, stupid expensive – according to Kravitz, Dupree liked the venison flavour best, _venison_ , for a _cat,_ and the kibble had to be put in a little puzzle thing otherwise Dupree would eat it too fast and throw up. Toys, one of which had feathers and was one a stick, one of which had bells and was on a stick, two of which were tiny, soft fake mice, three of which were rolling plastic balls, and one of which was a plush belled fish. A green plastic food dish, a matching water bowl, and a little green placemat to set them on. They matched Dupree’s nice leather collar, sparkly little nametag, and cheerful green bell.

It could be worse, Taako figured; he’s seen Dupree’s little kingdom of scratching posts, cat trees, and plush beds.

“You,” Taako says, to the underside of his couch, “are real fucking spoiled, huh.”

The couch does not reply.

       

* * *

 

Dupree tentatively pokes his head out of Taako’s couch around the four-and-a-half-hour mark, while Angus is sitting on the kitchen counter, reading a blog about cat care out loud. Taako stops chopping broccoli long enough to point at the spring onions – Angus passes them over without pausing his reading about respecting a cat’s personal space and boundaries – and Taako notices a black shadow start to creep across the living room, darting into Taako’s open bedroom door. 

 

* * *

 

He wakes up suffocating, panicking for a second, with a heavy weight on his neck. He makes a little noise and the cat lifts its head to look at him, big luminous green eyes shining. Dupree is curled around his neck like a mink scarf.

“You bastard,” Taako says, and gives it a gentle shove. Offended, Dupree gets up and stalks to the end of the bed, curls up in a ball next to his feet. Thirty seconds later, Taako’s asleep again.

 

* * *

 

There’s an almighty _smash_ as the ugly vase on the hall table crashes to the floor.

 

* * *

 

“How’s it going?” Kravitz asks. Even over the phone is voice is warm, soft. Taako can hear his smile. It gives him honest-to-god butterflies, seriously, what is this, middle school?

“Oh, you know,” Taako hums, gives into the urge to wind a lock of hair around his finger, “he nearly killed me, he’s smashing my place up, there’s hair absolutely everywhere. Ango’s already asked if we can get a kitten.”

Krav chuckles. “God, I’m so sorry. He can be a bit of a handful, I’m aware.”

“Yeah, that’s sorta your type, huh?” Taako quips, and is rewarded with a real laugh, bright and lovely. “How’s your moms?”

“Merry,” Krav says wryly. “They’ve been teasing me something awful, someone’s told them I’m seeing my best friend’s brother.”

Lup’s met them a couple of times, Taako recalls. Raven in particular has a soft spot for her and Barry.

“Oh yeah?” Taako leans back, puts his feet up, coy. “Must be pretty awkward, in front of the whole family. Is the dude worth it?”

“Absolutely,” Krav says immediately. “Unequivocally. He’s a _handful_ , definitely –“

“I’ll bet,” Taako mutters, lecherous.

Krav snorts, continues on: “ – but god, he’s so fucking beautiful. Brilliant, a real genius, even if he tries to hide it. A wonderful father, a caring friend. Multitalented, hilarious. A great cat sitter.”

“He sounds like a real catch,” Taako says, embarrassingly breathless.

“Mm,” Krav agrees. “Would it be embarrassing if I said I really wanna kiss you right now?”

Taako says, “Say it and find out.”

 

* * *

 

Taako’s said it before and will in all likelihood say it again: Garfield was a _fucking_ _nightmare_.

“My dude,” Taako says, wearily. Just when he’d thought he was getting somewhere with the damn cat it wakes him up yowling at four in the morning, doesn’t settle until he stumbles out of bed to fill its’ bowl with kibble. He’d been back in his warm bed before he remembered that the kibble was supposed to go in the puzzle thing, and by the time he got back up Dupree had already gutsed down his impromptu breakfast and thrown up on the rug.

So that had been fun, cleaning up cat puke in the still, dark pre-dawn air. He’d managed it without waking Angus, at least, but the kid had woken up an hour later with a runny nose and a sore throat and they had no cold medicine in the house so Taako had to run out to get some and only every damn pharmacy in the neighbourhood was slow opening and then when he got home the cat was yowling again because yeah, it did barf up all its’ breakfast, so then he was trying to figure out the puzzle thing, and Angus wanted to go to school sick because he was a huge goddam nerd and Taako wanted him to stay home and rest and then he burnt breakfast and –

Taako had been late to work.

“My dude,” Taako says tiredly, to his pissed-off boss, cutting off a lecture about the virtues of punctuality blah blah blah something about blood magic. God, Garfield is such a weird dude. “Do we stock anything that would get cat yartz out of carpet?”

Garfield stops short, which, thank god. Dude’s never even read the dictionary definition of an inside voice, if such a definition exists, let alone practised using one. Taako can feel a headache brewing.

“You’ve _never_ mentioned you have a _cat_ ,” Garf says in his way out of-of-place emphasises.

“I’m pet sitting,” Taako rubs at his temples. He’s pretty sure he put his _Justin_ nametag on upside down but he can’t be fucked to fix it. “Do we? Coz I got a stain, if you’re digging me, that I do not want.”            

“… _Cleaning_ products are in isle _six_ ,” Garfield rattles off. “Is there _any_ chance you have a fur sample you’d part with?”

“Thanks, Garf,” Taako says, electing to ignore that last bit, and turns and walks away.

 

* * *

 

He gave Lup a key to his apartment ages ago, but it’s still a little – not weird, but. Unusual, maybe, when she uses it. He got so used to scanning crowds looking for her face it’s unnerving that he can just call her up and see her whenever now.

She’s sitting on the floor with a laser pointer when he gets home from work. He’s got a plastic bag hooked over his elbow – carpet cleaner, ingredients for the chicken soup Ango likes when he’s sick, but the kid’s looking better now, sitting cross-legged across from Lup and giggling when Dupree leaps after the little red dot, trying to bat at it and pin it down with his paws.

He dumps the bag on the kitchen bench and leans against the counter to watch. Lup and Angus together is – a hell of a thing, really, considering all the shit they’ve collectively been through. She’s good with him. Better than Taako was, at first.

“Hello, sir!” Angus grins, big and brilliant.

“Hey, dork,” Lup clicks the laser pointer off and rises for her hug. He hesitates half a second but it’s only Angus, so he hugs her back, winds his arms around her shoulders, notices for the first time that when neither of them are wearing heels he’s just the tiniest bit taller than her.

“Hey, loser,” he replies, says over her shoulder: “Pumpkin, how you feeling?”

“Much better than I felt this morning,” Angus has snatched up the laser pointer and is jiggling the little dot for Dupree, who’s darting after it like he’s going for an Olympic medal. “I don’t think I’m sick after all, sir.”

“Good,” Taako extracts himself from Lup’s iron grip and goes to unpack the shopping. “Guess you won’t be wanting the chicken noodle soup, then.”

Angus bites his lip. “Auntie Lup said we could make pizzas,” he says, considering. “With cheesy garlic bread from scratch.”

Taako wonders when _Miss_ and _ma’am_ had become _Auntie_ and puts away the noodles _._ “You tryna clog my kid’s arteries?” Her garlic bread is so fucking good, though. “You two gonna do the cooking while I put my feet up, do a face mask?”

“Sure,” Lup agrees mildly, and fishes the ice-cream out of the grocery bag. “Ooh, Angel, check it out, triple chocolate!”

 

* * *

 

Ango’s in the lounge room finishing his bowl of ice cream and the smell of garlic still hangs heavy in the kitchen. Taako no longer has the excuse of hanging out on the balcony to smoke so he’s out there watching Dupree bat at moths. The balcony really is tiny, barely big enough for the potted basil and cilantro plants that Merle gave him when they moved in, so Lup’s gotta stand pretty much shoulder to shoulder with him.

“It was shitty circumstance,” she says. “Nothing more, babe, and none of it was your fault.”

“Yeah, I know, I just,” he pushes his hair back away from his face, sighs. “Missed you. Was a long couple years.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Lup says, toasts him with her coffee mug. “Between you and me, though, I think we ended up okay.”

Reflexively, Taako looks over his shoulder at Ango, who’s taken himself into the kitchen to rinse the ice cream bowl. “Could be worse,” he agrees.

Dupree abandons his moth hunt to wander over and rub himself on Lup’s legs, then Taakos. “Hey, handsome,” she says to him, all high-pitched and goofy, baby-talking. “I been missing you since Krav spirited you away. He treating you well?” Dupree makes a little chirping noise as she squats down to pet him, balancing on the balls of her socked feet.

“He’s the most spoiled cat I ever met,” Taako says, faux grumpy. Lup grins up at him.

“And how’s Krav been treating _you_?”

Taako looks away. “He’s alright,” he says, hoping his blush doesn’t betray him. “I’ve had worse – I’ve seen worse guys.”

If Lup notices he’s still dancing around the word _boyfriend_ , she doesn’t mention it. She makes a _hmm_ noise like she can see right through him, which. Of course she does, she always does. She gives Dupree a kiss on the head and rises up, leans in to give Taako a kiss on the head.

 

* * *

 

Taako wakes up with the cat comfortably curled up on his chest, his sister’s warmth at his side, Ango already up and about getting himself ready for school. Taako slips out of bed to get some breakfast going for Ango, and Dupree snuggles up to Lup once he’s gone.

 

* * *

 

“You’re coming back soon?” Taako says into her neck as they hug, _again_ , god, he’d missed being so touchy, as a person.

“You fucking know it,” Lup says, and ruffles her hair as she pulls away, _totally_ _ruining_ his carefully styled bedhead, the devil. “Bring yourself up my way sometime, yeah? Since you’re into cats now, I’ll introduce you to Luce’s.”

“I am not –“ Taako begins, sighs. “I’ll come see your girl’s fancy digs, how ‘bout that?”

“Sounds likes plans,” Lup socks him in the shoulder, none to gently, and spins away.

He calls after her, “You still hit like a second grader!” and she throws him a bird over her shoulder without looking way, which means he can grin without being embarrassed. He’ll see her soon.

 

* * *

 

Dupree is curled up on the blue and green blanket Kravitz had so carefully packed for him when Taako goes back inside, strategically in the path of a ray of sun, his chin tilted up to soak up the rays, like a little king.

“I get it, little dude,” Taako says to the cat as he plops down on the couch next to him, thinks about Krav’s gentle hands folding up that blanket so Dupree had something that smelled of home. “I used to be a street cat too,” Taako tells him, and strokes a hand over his soft fur. `

 

* * *

 

Kravitz had planned to come to Taako’s straight from the airport so Taako counter-offers to save him the taxi ride and goes to pick him up. It’s an, uh, interesting experience, riding the bike with Krav behind him, solid and steady, clinging tight onto him.

Dupree must catch Krav’s scent before Taako even gets his door unlocked because he’s meowing with a fury previously unseen by Taako’s mortal eyes and he pushes past Taako’s legs into the hall as soon as the door’s unlocked, butting up against Krav’s legs. Krav bends to scoop him up, plants kisses all over his little face, saying “Hi, baby, hi,” in this dumb high pitched voice, right there in the hall, and –

Huh. Taako is really gone on this huge fucking dork. That’s. That sure is something.

“Thank you,” Krav says, when cat snuggle time is no longer his most pressing priority. “Thank you so much for looking after him –“

“Don’t sweat it, dear,” Taako says flippantly. They’re still standing in his entryway. “You, uh. Wanna come in for coffee?”

Krav smiles, turns his head to give Dupree a smooch. “I’d like that.”


End file.
